The Starting 5

• Georgia and LSU meet in Baton Rouge on Saturday evening after each team enjoyed an open-date from midweek competition.
• After starting the season 16-3 and matching the third-best 20-game opening in 121 seasons of play, the Bulldogs are looking to snap a three-game losing skid.
• Dylan James was a bright spot in last Saturday’s setback to Texas A&M, with 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds en route to his first career double-double.
• Georgia entered this weekend ranked No. 2 nationally in scoring (92.3 ppg) and is producing 46.2 percent (44.6 ppg) of its offensive output either in a hurry – No. 1 in fastbreak points (22.6 ppg) – or standing still – No. 5 in FT makes (20.0 ppg).
• Somto Cyril joined Georgia’s top-10 single-season leaders in blocks at Texas. The sophomore from Enugu, Nigeria now as 60 rejections, 34 shy of Charles Claxton’s UGA season record of 94 in 1994-95.

Keeping An Eye On…

Entering Today’s Game – Among UGA’s Career Leaders

Blue Cain is…

• 3 3-pointers from No. 17 Turtle Jackson

• 9 3-pointers from No. 16 Terrance Woodbury

• 2 3-point attempts from No. 17 Terrance Woodbury

• 3 3-point attempts from No. 16 Jody Patton

• 7 3-point attempts from No. 15 Jabri Abdur-Rahim

Somto Cyril is…

• 6 blocks from No. 11 Trey Thompkins

• 8 blocks from No. 10 Chris Daniels

• 9 blocks from No. 9 Marcus Thornton

• 12 blocks from co-No. 7 Willie Anderson and Nicolas Clayton

Entering Today’s Game – Among UGA’s Season Leaders

Somto Cyril is…

• 1 block from No. 7 Yante Maten (’16)

• 16 blocks from No. 6 Lavon Mercer (’80)

The Opening Tip

Following an open midweek date, Georgia returns to action on Saturday when the Bulldogs travel to Baton Rouge to face LSU at 6:00 p.m. at the Maravich Assembly Center. The Tigers also are playing their first game in a week.

Georgia is looking to get back on a winning track. The Bulldogs were 16-3 and matched the third-best 20-game start in 121 seasons of Georgia Basketball before beginning a three-game losing skid at Texas two Saturday’s ago.

Despite its recent struggles, Georgia’s statistical resume for the 2025-26 campaign has been incredibly impressive.

As of Friday, the Bulldogs were ranked in the top 25 nationally in 11 of the 28 statistics tracked by the NCAA, including leading all 365 Division I programs in fastbreak points (22.6 ppg) and blocks (7.1 bpg).

Georgia has one of the nation’s deepest rotations playing at a pace among the country’s quickest.

Eleven Bulldogs are averaging double-figure minutes, and according to the oft-used metric KenPom.com, Georgia entered this weekend ranked No. 6 nationally in adjusted tempo (73.1) and No. 1 in average offensive possession length (14.9).

Georgia’s depth is not just in numbers but also in its offensive production.

Ten of the 11 Bulldogs playing double-digit minutes have scored 10+ points in a game, combining to record 91 double-figure scoring outputs this season.

Jeremiah Wilkinson is averaging a team-high 17.1 ppg, while Blue Cain is contributing 13.4 ppg, Marcus “Smurf” Millender is chipping in 12.0 ppg and Kanon Catchings is adding 10.6 ppg.

Scouting The Tigers

After racing to a 12-1 start to open the 2025-26 campaign, LSU is 2-7 in SEC action and now 14-8 entering Saturday’s matchup with Georgia.

LSU has played a large portion of the season without leading scorer, Dedan Thomas Jr., who is averaging 15.3 ppg but has missed six outings due to a foot injury. Thomas logged DNPs in the Tigers’ first five SEC outings before seeing action against Florida, Arkansas and Mississippi State. He re-aggravated the injury in the MSU game and did not play at South Carolina last Saturday.

Three Tigers who have started every game to date also are contributing points at a double-figure pace – Max Mackinnon at 14.6 ppg, Michael Nwoko at 14.0 ppg and Marquel Sutton at 13.2 ppg.

Series History With LSU

LSU owns a 71-50 advantage in the all-time series with UGA. A recap of the series can be found in the column to the left.

Last season on Feb. 5 in Athens, Blue Cain posted his second career double-double – and flirted with a triple-double – to lead Georgia in an 81-62 win over LSU. Cain finished the night with 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists – twice his previous career high – with no turnovers.

Georgia outscored the Tigers 10-4 over the final 7:19 of the first half to grab a 37-31 advantage at the intermission and outscored LSU 46-21 in the second stanza.

The Bulldogs’ last trip to Baton Rouge was on Feb. 27, 2024 and went down to the final horn. A pair of LSU free throws with 15 seconds left, followed by a pair of misses on potential game winners by Bulldogs, propelled the Tigers to a 67-66 victory.

The back-and-forth final minutes featured six lead changes and two ties in the final 5:38.

Last Time Out

Despite five Bulldogs reaching double figures and Dylan James producing his first career double-double, Georgia dropped a 92-77 decision to Texas A&M last Saturday.

The Aggies raced to a 22-2 lead and left the Bulldogs playing from behind all day. Georgia did pull within a single possession twice – at 44-41 late in the first half and at 69-67 with 9:05 remaining – but could not complete the comeback.

“Our guys are resilient,” head coach Mike White said. ‘We’ve got to clean up details, but our guys, they’ll be ready to work. This team really works, and we’ll accept messages tomorrow, we’ll learn from film, we’ll have a good practice.”

Cyril Named To Naismith Defensive Player Of The Year Watch List

Georgia’s Somto Cyril was named to the 2026 Naismith Men’s College Defensive Player of the Year Watch List, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced during the last week of January. He was one of 25 players nationally named to the list.

A native of Enugu, Nigeria, Cyril has emerged as one of the nation’s most dominant interior defenders. He currently leads the Southeastern Conference and ranks second nationally in blocks per game at 2.7 per contest. Through 22 games, Cyril has recorded 60 blocked shots, already the eighth-highest single-season total in Georgia history. He is just 34 block shy of the school record of 94 rejections by Charles Claxton in 1994-95.

Dunkyard Dawgs Are Second Nationally In Slams

According to BartTorvik.com, Georgia entered this weekend ranked No. 2 the nation in percentage of its field goals this season on dunks at 18.6 – 139 of 694 the Bulldogs’ total FGs – as outlined below.

Somto Cyril’s 57 dunks ranked No. 2 nationally and led all SEC players by a wide gap of 20 slams. Kareem Stagg was second among Bulldogs with 18 dunks; followed by Jake Wilkins with 16; Justin Abson and Jeremiah Wilkinson both with 11; Kanon Catchings with 10; Blue Cain with nine; and Dylan James with seven.

Dunking It
Rank	Team	Pct.
1.	N. Carolina	19.0
2.	Georgia	18.6
3.	Duke	16.8
4.	Arkansas	16.7
5.	Florida	15.8
6.	Indiana	15.5
7.	Kansas	15.3
8.	Kentucky	15.1
9.	Michigan	15.0
10.	South Florida	14.7

Bulldogs Among Nation’s Top Offensive Teams

Georgia entered this weekend ranked No. 2 in D-I in scoring offense at 92.3 points per game.

Much of Georgia’s production has come either in a hurry or while standing still.

The Bulldogs lead the country in fastbreak points (22.6 ppg) and are No. 5 free throws made (20.0 ppg). That equates to roughly 46.2 percent (44.6 of 92.3 ppg) of Georgia’s offensive output.

Georgia’s scoring has been consistent. In 44 halves of hoops, the Bulldogs scored 40 or more points 35 times, with 11 50-point periods and three segments of 60 or more points.

Georgia played 102 games in Mike White‘s first three seasons in Athens. The Bulldogs reached 90 points nine times and 100 points twice. In 22 games this season, Georgia has topped 90 points in 12 outings and surpassed the century mark in a school-record seven contests.

Bulldogs Play School-Record Fourth Overtime Outing

Georgia’s overtime setback to Tennessee on Jan. 27 was the Bulldogs’ fourth contest this season that has been extended by five minutes to determine the outcome.

That ties Georgia’s record for most OT games in a season. The Bulldogs have played four overtime outings eight different times, most recently in 2012-13. The other seasons were 2010-11, 1998-99, 1986-87, 1983-84, 1876-77 and 1959-60.

Georgia is 1-3 in overtime this season, defeating Auburn and falling to Clemson, Ole Miss and the Volunteers. The Bulldogs are now 61-82 all-time in games going to OT.

Georgia Among Nation’s Top-10 In Six Stats

Peruse the NCAA’s statistical leaders and you’ll find a multitude of categories featuring the Georgia Bulldogs at or near the top.

As of Friday, Georgia was ranked in the nation’s top-25 teams in 10 of the 28 stats the NCAA measures, including five in the top 10 as outlined below.

Top-10 Stats
Statistic	Rk.	No.
Fastbreak Points	1	22.6
Blocks Per Game	1	7.1
Scoring Offense	2	92.3
FTs Made Per Game	6	20.0
Bench Points	8	35.6

Double-Digit Dogs’ Have Hit Double Figures

No less than 10 different Georgia Bulldogs recorded double-figure scoring outputs in the first five games of the season.

Those Bulldogs have now combined to produce 91 double-digit performances.

Jeremiah Wilkinson leads that pack with 18, followed by Blue Cain with 17; Smurf Millender with 15; Kanon Catchings with 11; Somto Cyril with nine; Jordan Ross with seven; Jake Wilkins with five; Dylan James with four; Justin Bailey with three; and Kareem Stagg with two.

Seven of the aforementioned Bulldogs scored in double digits against Morehead State on Nov. 9. That marked the first time seven Bulldogs hit the 10-point plateau in a single game since a 99-72 decision over Tennessee Tech on Dec. 29, 1994 – a span of 979 contests.

Millender Tops Millennium Mark; More Dogs Approaching 1,000

Houston native Marcus “Smurf” Millender reached 1,000 career points with approximately 30 family and friends on hand for his return to the Lone Star State. Millender ascended to the millennium mark with a 3-pointer from the right wing with 15:22 left in the game at Texas.

Millender scored his 1000 points at three different schools, with 309 as a freshman at South Alabama, 461 as a sophomore at UT San Antonio and 230 in his junior campaign as a Bulldog.

Blue Cain and Jeremiah Wilkinson also are on pace to reach 1,000 career points this season.

Cain and Wilkinson have scored 872 and 843 points, respectively. At their current scoring averages, both Bulldogs would reach 1,000 points in 10 games (March 7 at Mississippi State).

Cain would become the first player to score 1,000 points exclusively for Georgia since Yante Maten reached that plateau on Jan. 4, 2017.

Wilkinson Putting Up Big Numbers For Bulldogs

Jeremiah Wilkinson leads Georgia with eight 20-point outputs this season, including a pair of 30-point performances.

Wilkinson has three 20-point tallies in SEC play, popping for 31 against Auburn; putting up 32 versus Ole Miss, the single-game high of any Bulldog this season; and scoring 20 against Arkansas.

Big numbers have been a big part of the Powder Springs product’s game.

Last season at Cal, he notched 10 20-point tallies and a pair of 30-point efforts for the Bears en route to winning ACC Sixth Man of the Year honors. Wilkinson’s 10 20-point games for Cal were the second most in program history by a freshman behind only Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

Dogs’ Dishing, Ball Control Considerably Better

Mike White has called the 2025-26 Bulldogs one of the better passing teams he’s coached.

A year ago, the Bulldogs ranked No. 262 nationally in assists per game at 12.5 and No. 298 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 0.96. This season, Georgia entered this weekend well over 100 spots better in each stat – No. 138 in assists (14.8 apg) and No. 110 in assist-to-turnovers (1.34).

A large part of that is the performance of the four guards Georgia added via the transfer portal during the offseason – Justin Bailey, Marcus “Smurf” Millender, Jordan Ross and Jeremiah Wilkinson. That quartet has delivered a combined 191 passes-to-points while committing just 100 turnovers – equating to 8.6 apg and a stellar ratio of 1.91 assists-to-TOs.

Somto Surging On UGA Swatting Ledgers

Sophomore Somto Cyril is quickly climbing on Georgia’s single-season and career leaders lists for blocked shots.

In 33 games last season, Cyril swatted 51 shots, which was then the 11th-best tally ever by a Bulldog and the second-most by a Georgia freshman.

In 22 contests this season, the Enugu, Nigeria native has already blocked 60 shots. That’s the No. 8 season mark by a Bulldog.

Cyril’s numbers are bolstered two career-high outputs in SEC play – six swats against Auburn and an eight-block outing versus Arkansas.

Cyril’s 111 rejections over two seasons already ranks No. 12 among Georgia’s career leaders, just eight shy of the top-10.

Kanon Takes Off In SEC Outings

Kanon Catchings’ production has increased dramatically over the last eight games.

After averaging 8.3 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 38.8 from the field and 24.2 from 3-point range in the first 14 games of the season, Catchings has upped each effort to 14.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 45.6 FG pct. (41-of-90) and 40.8 3FG pct. (20-of-49) in the eight most recent contests.

The sophomore from Brownsburg, Ind., notched four double-figure scoring tallies in the first 14 games before recording seven double-digit point performances his last eight outings.

Smurf’s Game Gets Bigger In Last 17 Outings

Marcus “Smurf” Millender’s season-high 24-point outing against Auburn in the SEC opener headlines a strong series of performances over the Bulldogs’ last 16 contests.

The stretch includes two dramatic game winners. Millender canned a clutch 3-pointer with 11 seconds left against Xavier in the opening round of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic on Nov. 21 and converted a three-point play with 5.5 seconds left at Missouri on Jan. 20.

Millender has now put up double-digit scoring tallies in 14 of 17 games and distributed six or more assists in four of those contests. After averaging 6.8 points in Georgia’s first five games, he is contributing 13.5 ppg in the Bulldogs’ last 17 outings.

Millender’s efficiency from the field also has increased dramatically. After shooting 26.2 percent (11-of-42) overall and 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from 3-point range in the first five games, Millender has connected on 52.7 percent (78-of-148) including 46.7 percent (35-of-75) of his 3s, thereafter.

Cain Joins UGA’s Free Throw Leaders

Blue Cain has met the minimums to be included in Georgia’s single-season and career leaders in free throw percentage. He enters the LSU game ranked No. 3 in both season and career success rate among all Bulldogs.

The minimum to qualify for Georgia’s single-season free throw percentage leaders is 50 made attempts, which Cain reached with two makes at South Carolina on Jan. 19. Cain is currently 57-of-64 and his 89.1 conversion rate is the third-best ever by a Bulldog.

The minimum to qualify for Georgia’s career free throw leaders percentage leaders is 125 made attempts, which Cain achieved with two free throws at Florida on Jan. 6. Cain is now 133-of-160 and his 83.1 conversion rate is now the fifth-best ever by a Bulldog.

Abson, Cyril Supply Top Shot-Swatting Duo

Georgia is leading the nation in blocks per game entering this weekend, largely due to two Bulldogs also being among the shot swatters in the country.

As of Friday, Somto Cyril led the SEC and was No. 3 nationally at 2.7 bpg and Justin Abson was at No. 3 in the league and No. 26 in the country at 2.0 bpg.

This is the third time in his career Abson has been a top-25 shot swatter. In his two seasons at Appalachian State before transferring to Georgia, he ranked No. 5 (2.8 bpg) nationally as a sophomore and No. 19 (2.2 bpg) as a freshman.

Georgia entered this weekend ranked No. 4 nationally in defensive blocks percentage according to KenPom.com, swatting away 16.5 percent of the opponents’ shots from the field.

White Quickly Takes Losing Teams To The Top 25

When the Bulldogs climbed into the polls last January, it represented the third program Mike White took from a losing record the season prior to his arrival to a top-25 ranking in less than three years.

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